Voltage-regulator.



No. 871,537. PATENTED NOV. 19, 1907. v

M. J. E. TILNEY.

VOLTAGE REGULATOR. APPLICATION rum) 0GT.17, 1905.

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INVENTOR PATENTED NOV. 19, 1907. M. J. B. TILNEY. VOLTAGE REGULATOR.

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PATENTED NOV. 19, 1907. M. J. E; TILNBY.

VOLTAGE REGULATOR. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 17, 1905.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VOLTAGE-RE GULATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 19, 1907.

Application filed tobe 17. 1905- Serial No. 283,100.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAX JAMES ECCLES TILNEY, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at 8 Astwood road, South Kensington, in thecounty of London, England, electrical engineer, have invented certainnew and useful Voltage-Regulators, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to a method of automatically regulating thevoltage in electric light and power circuits with varying loads, and isapplicable even to circuits in which the load varies suddenly and bylarge amounts.

The method consists substantially in varying the excitation of themachine to be controlled by means of a rheostat in series with the shuntwinding of the field and controlled by a motor driven switch. The motorfield is differentially wound according to a particular scheme, havingthree coils: (l) a coil in series with the work circuit or carrying adefinite proportion of the circuit load, (2) a coil shunting the loadcircuit and proportioned to give a definite armature flux at thestandard voltage, and (3) a coil carrying a current which varies indirection and strength with the exciting current of the machine to becontrolled or the potential at its terminals.

The series and shunt coils are wound to oppose each other, while thethird coil is divided into two sections, one of which is ar ranged toproduce a flux in opposition to coil 2, the shunt coil, when the machineto be controlled is giving an. E. M. F. in the normal direction, whilethe other section, or both sections, is, or are, arranged to produce aflux opposed to coil 1 when the machine to be controlled giving an E. M.F. in the reverse direction. It has been found preferable in practice tocut out the first section of coil 3 on reversing, the turns in thesecond section being correspondingly increased. This arrangement is infact practically necessary when a regulator is used in parallel with thefirst section so as to divert current therefrom and thus obtain highercurrent values in the field coil of the machine to be regulated withoutcorrespondingly increasing the flux due to the first section of coil 3.

The invention is herein illustrated as applied to shunt wound boostersused for charging and discharging batteries of accumulators on electriclight and power circuits with fluctuating loads.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 illustrates diagrammatically themethod of regulation which. constitutes the present invention, whileFigs. 2 and 3 are respectively an elevation partly in section and a planview of one arrangement of the motor driven switch used in carrying outthe invention; and Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing themodifications involved when the third exciting coil of the regulatormotor is connected across the terminals of the machine to be regulated.

Referring to these drawings, the machine to be regulated is a reversiblebooster a connected in series with a storage battery b across the supplyleads 0 c, on the load side of the main generator d. The field coil 6 ofthe booster is connected in series with a regulator A across the supplyleads, this regulator being operated and controlled to vary the fieldcurrent of the booster and consequently its E. M. F. in accordance withthe load on the circuit so that when the load exceeds the normal thebooster will assist the discharge of the battery to a greater or lessdegree thus relieving the main generator of part of the load and whenthe load is less than normal the booster will charge the battery.

The regulator is actuated by a suitable motor B the armature f of whichis supplied ndth an approximately constant current, as by connecting itacross the supply leads. The motor field is excited by three distinctcoils or sets of coils, one of which g, carries a currentproportional tothe load on the circuit; a second 72., is wound. to oppose the action ofcoil g and is connected across the supply leads, being adjusted as bymeans of a rheostat 'ito produce a definite magnetic flux at thestandard or normal load voltage of the circuit; while the third, whichconsists of two sections k If, carries a current which varies indirection and strength with the current in the field coil 6 of thebooster a (Fig. 1) or with the potential at its terminals (Fig. 4). Ofthese two sections it is operative when the booster current is in whatmay be called the normal direction, that is when the battery is beingcharged and is then producing a llux which assists that due to coil 9,but when the booster current is in the reverse direction is is cut outand k becomes operative, producing a flux which assists that due to coilh, the change being effected by the switch of the regulator A ashereinafter described. Further, when the resultant magnetic flux due tothe three sets of coils of the regulator motor field is not m'Z andthere is a consequent movement of the motor armature, the resultantmovement of the regulator alters the resistance controlled thereby so asto produce a magnetic balance as between the three sets of coils and themotor andregulator come to rest. In the arrangement of Fig. 1, thechange of flux due to the third set of coils is directly effected by thechange of the regulator resistance which is in series both with thebooster field coils e and with the coils 7c k of the regulator motor,while in the arrangement of Fig. 4 the change of magnetic fiuX due tocoil if or k follows the change of booster potential produced by thealteration of the regulator resistance which in this case is in serieswith the booster field coils only.

It is evident that when the resultant field of the motor is nil, achange of load on the circuit will produce a change of flux due to coilg and consequently a movement of the regulator in one direction or theother, and the arrangement is such that an increase of the circuit load,when the battery is charging and coil is operative and assisting coil g,causes a movement of the regulator switch which decreases the current inthe booster field coils and consequently also the booster E. M. F. andthe current in coil 7c, until the magnetic equilibrium of the motorfield is again established. Similarly, under the same conditions, adiminution of the circuit load will increase the booster E. M. F. andalso the current in coil 7c, until the magnetic equilibrium is againestablished. Also, when the booster is assisting the discharge of thebattery and coil k is operative and assisting coil h, an increase in thecircuit load and consequent increase in the flux due to coil 9 isarranged to effect a movement of the regulator which will increase thebooster E. M. F. and also the flux 'due to coil W, and conversely.

In the intermediate position, that is to say when the circuit load isnormal and the battery neither charging nor discharging, the coils g andh balance each other and the regulator switch-is in a position in whichthe maximum resistance, which may be infinite, is included in the fieldcircuit of the booster. The current in the coil 7: is regulated eitherby means of a diverter Z shunting the coil (Fig. 1), which enableshigher values of current in the field coils e to be obtained withoutincreasing the flux due to coil 7c, or in continuous but are interruptedas shown at points diametrically opposite to each other, and further oneof each pair, viz. m, n, are plain strips, of which n is interruptedalso at another point as shown, while the other strips m a consistpartly of plain strips and partly of contact blocks between which theregulator resistances are connected, the two parts being insulated fromeach other. The end blocks are electrically connected with each otherand the plain parts of the strips m n are electrically connected withone of the mains. The other electrical connections will be described bytracing the current circuits for various positions of the rollercontacts.

Assuming the rollers to be in the position indicated by the full linesX, Y, a position in which the battery is being charged, a circuit iscompleted from the lead 0 through wire 0, resistances of rheostat stripm, contact rollers m strip m, wire 0, field coil e from right to left,coil 76, wire 0 right hand part of strip n contact rollers n, and wire 0to lead 0''. As the load increases and consequently the flux due to coil9, the armature f rotates so as to restore the magnetic equilibrium thatis so as to reduce the flux due to coil 7r, the contact rollers movingclockwise and increasing the resistances of m included in the boosterfield circuit until the contact rollers m pass on to the plain part ofstrip m, the contact rollers n passing simultaneously to the rheostatpart of the strip n.

When the rollers are in the position shown by the dotted lines X, Y, acircuit is completed from lead 0, through resistances of rheostat stripn, contact rollers 17%, left hand part of strip n, wire 0 coil k fieldcoil 6 from left to right, wire 0, strip m, rollers m strip m and wire 0to lead 0. In this case the booster E. M. F. is reversed and the boosteris assisting the discharge of the battery. As the load on the circuitdecreases, the flux due to coil g will decrease and to restoreequilibrium the armature f will rotate to reduce the field due to coil kwhich is opposing coil g, thereby increasing the resistances of rheostatit included in the booster field circuit, and reducing the booster E. M.F. until finally it becomes zero when the contact rollers m n are movedon to -the gaps in the pairs of strips m m, n n

respectively.

In the modified arrangement of Fig. 4, the re p p divided as shown andarranged to be ridged by an additional pair of contact rollers 19 thesestrips being electrically connected as shown in the diagram with thecoils 7c 762 and the booster terminals.

ulator has an additional pair of stripsff It will be obvious that whenthe contact rollers are in a charging position as shown by the lines X,Y, the booster exciting current will be in the same direction as in thecase of the apparatus of Fig. 1, and the coil 7c will be connectedacross the booster terminals, and when the rollers are in the positionshown by the dotted lines X Y", the booster field current will bereversed, and the coil 7: will be connected across the boosterterminals.

It will be understood that when the method of regulation hereindescribed is ap plied to the main generating machine or ma chines on acircuit the provision for reversal of the field current is dispensedwith.

Having thus described the nature of this invention and the best means Iknow of carrying the same into practical effect, I claim 1. In theregulation of electric circuits having varying loads, a dynamo-electricma chine and an automatic regulator controlling the field of the saidmachine and actuated by a motor having three field coils which normallyneutralize each other and are so related with each other and the circuitthat an increase or decrease of the circuit load produces a movement ofthe regulator which correspondingly varies the voltage of the dynamoelectric machine, and at the same time restores the equilibrium of themotor field; substantially as described.

2. In the regulation of electric circuits having varying loads, anautomatic regulator actuated by a motor having three sets of fieldcoils, one set carrying a definite proportion of the circuit load, asecond set wound to oppose the first and carrying a current proportionalto the circuit voltage, and the third set carrying a current determinedby the position of the regulator; substan tially as described.

3. In the regulation. of electric circuits having varying loads, adynamo electric ma chine, a regulator, a motor actuating said regulator,said motor having a field magnet system comprising three sets of coils,one set connected to carry a definite proportion of the circuit load, asecond set wound to oppose the first and connected across the circuit tobe regulated, and the third set connected to opposite sides of thedynamo-electric machine; substantially as described.

4. In the regulating of electric circuits having varying loads, adynamo-electric ma chine connected with the circuit, a regulatorcontrolling the field of said machine, a motor actuating said regulator,said motor having a field magnet system comprising three sets of coils,one set connected to carry a definite proportion of the circuit load, asecond set wound to oppose the first set and connected across thecircuit to be regulated, and the third set carrying a current whichvaries in direction and magnitude with the voltage of thedynamo-electric machine; substantially as described.

5. In the regulating of electric circuits having varying loads, adynamo-electric machine connected across the circuit, a regulatorcontrolling the field of said machine, a motor actuating said regulator,said motor having a field magnet system comprising three sets of coils,one set carrying a definite proportion of the circuit load, a second setwound to oppose the first and connected across the load circuit, and athird set wound in two sections, one adapted to assist and the other tooppose the first set of field coils, said sections being alternativelyconnected to 0pposite sides of the dynamo-electric machine by theregulator; substantially as described.

6. In the regulation of electric circuits having varying loads, adynamo-electric machine connected across the circuit, a regulatorcontrolling the field of said machine, a motor actuating said regulator,said motor having a field magnet system com rising three sets of coils,one set carrying a efinite proportion of the circuit load, a second setwound to oppose the first, and connected across the load circuit, and athird set wound in two sections, one adapted to assist and the other tooppose the first set of field coils, said sections being arranged to bealternatively connected by the regulator in series with the field coilsof the dynamo-electric machine; substantially as described.

7. In the regulation of electric circuits having varying loads, areversible booster and storage battery connected across the circuit tobe regulated, a regulator controlling the field. of the booster, a motoractuating said regulator, said motor having three sets of field coils,one set carrying a definite proportion of the circuit load, a second setwound to oppose the first and. carrying a current proportional to thecircuit voltage, and a third set wound in two sections, one adapted toassist and the other to oppose the first winding, said sections beingalternatively connected to opposite sides of the booster by theregulator; substantially as described.

8. In the regulation of electric circuits having varying loads, areversible booster and storage battery connected across the circuit tobe regulated, a regulator controlling the field of the booster, a motoractuating said regulator, said motor having three sets of field coils,one set carrying a definite proportion of the circuit load, a second setwound to oppose the first and carrying a current proportional to thecircuit voltage, and a third set in series with the booster field;substantially as described.

9. In the regulation of electric circuits having varying loads, areversible booster and storage battery connected across the circuit tobe regulated, a regulator controlling regulator in series With thebooster field; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

MAX JAMES ECGLES TILNEY.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH MILLARD, T. J. OSMAN.

